Worries About Banking Exposure Has Conglomerate Focusing on Industrial Operations

General Electric Co. is preparing to spin off one of its most important financial assets—the unit that issues store credit cards for 55 million Americans—as it retreats from one of the high-growth businesses that defined the modern conglomerate.

The decision to divest the business, amid concerns about the company's exposure to banking, marks an important moment in the evolution of GE and the country's three-decade long consumer...